A Sorta Fairytale
by Susan Bell
Summary: Random SamDanny fluff. Danny can't figure out why Paulina and her crowd upset Sam so much. COMPLETE!
1. Break A Silver Lining

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A Sorta Fairytale

Chapter One: Break a Silver Lining

July 2004

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"Being popular isn't _everything_, Danny," Sam sighed, glancing at her best friend. "And close your mouth. We _are_ outside, you know."

Paulina disappeared around a corner, and Danny shook himself, returning to his sandwich.

"Yeah, but think of how much better'd things be if we _were_," Danny protested around a mouth full of peanut butter.

"He's got a point, Sam," Tucker added, nodding at his friend. "None of us would get stuffed into our lockers again, or shoved out of the way of the jocks, and we'd have _social lives_."

"If there's a point," Sam retorted coldly, getting to her feet, "then I fail to see it. Those guys are jerks."

"You can't say that," Tucker said, "you don't know them."

"Neither do either of you." She rolled her eyes. "See you guys in class."

Danny watched her walk away, narrowing his blue eyes.

"What's _her_ problem?" he asked. Tucker shrugged.

"Girls," he said. "You're not supposed to know."

Danny laughed, and picked up his brown paper bag.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I'm right." Tucker raised an eyebrow, watching his friend stand. "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom. See you later, okay?"

Tucker nodded, facing his lunch once more.

Danny adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, shaking dark bangs out of his eyes and began toward the school building.

Sam stood at her locker, glaring at the contents inside it. She couldn't help her irritation, even though she wished she hadn't snapped at Danny. Well, it didn't really matter; he never seemed to notice when he hurt her.

She sighed. He was such a nice guy … but about as observant as a rock. She tried to excuse it, chalking it up to the "fourteen-year-old boy" syndrome … but Danny had always been like that. She didn't blame him for it; it was just part of who he was, what made him Danny. She would hate to think of him changing in any sort of way—

"Hey, Sam."

She froze, one hand on the door of her locker. Who better to interrupt her thoughts, right?

"Oh, hey, Danny. Where's Tucker?"

She stared hard at the back wall of her locker, feeling the bitter sting of tears in the corners of her eyes. She never cried; why the hell did she have to start _now_?

"Outside. I was on my way to the bathroom … but, um … is everything okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked, her tone colder than she intended … but she didn't care. Anything to make him go away, right?

"You just, you know, seemed –''

He stopped speaking suddenly; Sam didn't have to look at him to know why.

"Sam, you know I hate to do this to you, but I gotta put you on hold for five minutes."

"Sure."

There was a distant crash and a girl's high pitched shriek. Danny sighed.

"Make that six minutes."

"Of course."

He hesitated; she felt his bright blue gaze on her. Her stomach clenched. He didn't see it. Was she that good at hiding it? She doubted that. It was Danny; he couldn't help it. Oblivious as anything, that's all.

But that didn't stop her heart from feeling as though it would rip in two, didn't stop that single tear from escaping, from sliding down her cheek.

He turned away before he could see it, and was tearing off down the hallway. Sam tightened her grip on the locker door.

"Sure, Danny."


	2. The Girl Had Come Undone

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A Sorta Fairytale

Chapter Two: The Girl Had Come Undone

July 2004

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"Give it up, halfa!"

"Uh … yeah, like I'd _let_ you win!" Danny rolled his eyes, floating just inches above the gym floor. He curled his hands into fists, watching the creature opposite him with narrowed, electric green eyes.

"Well, it's always an option."

The ghost was huge, filling the room with his immense bulk, wearing an array of tattered rags. He voice was low, and sounded as though he'd just swallowed a truckload of gravel … and then tried to eat the truck as well, but it had lodged itself somewhere around his windpipe. The ghost swung a large fist at him; Danny yawned, dodging it easily.

"Is _that_ the best you got? Jeez, I'd let you win just out of _pity_!" he said, raising an eyebrow.

The giant emitted a low growl, wiping his lower lip in irritation.

"Think you're something, don't you, little halfa?" he sneered.

"Well, I really don't like to brag …" Danny shrugged, moving aside as the ghost swung again.

"And this is just sad." He pulled out the Fenton Thermos, preparing to zap the giant.

He'd forgotten about the other fist.

Danny found himself suddenly being slammed against the wall, his head thrown back, cracking against the cold stone. He cried out, needles of pain shooting through the back of his head. He heard the distant clatter of the thermos falling to the floor.

For a moment, black spots danced in front of his eyes and the world around him flickered, threatening to fade into darkness. He felt thick fingers squeezing his body … but that seemed far away; he couldn't focus his mind long enough to go intangible. All he wanted was to just go to sleep … he let his eyes slip shut.

He let out a weak whimper as the giant clenched his huge fist around his body, crushing him. He heard a triumphant snicker … but that was also very far away, and getting farther by the second.

"_No_! Get away from him!"

Sam … what the heck was _she_ doing here?

"Come to rescue the halfa, little girl?"

Oh, God, if that monster hurt her …

Danny forced his eyes open; the world spun for a moment, but he shook his head, trying to shake it off.

"Leave him alone." Her voice was quiet, hostile … but what could she do? She straightened up, trying to make herself appear taller. Danny swallowed around a lump in his throat, watching her. The ghost turned in her direction, red eyes fixed on her. She suddenly looked very small, standing there in the doorway.

Why was she here? She didn't have ghost powers; she could get really hurt.

Forcing away dizziness, panicking at the thought of harm coming to Sam, Danny focused on turning himself invisible. He slipped through the sausage-like fingers—although Danny seriously doubted they _made_ sausages that big.

The ghost's fist squeezed nothing but air.

"What the—?"

He turned around again, and found Danny facing him, holding the container.

"Try harder next time," he said, smirking a little.

Roaring in frustration, the giant faced Sam, reaching out for her with lightning speed.

"I'll take your girlfriend with me," he warned, lips twisting in a nasty smile.

Danny's heart skipped a beat in momentary alarm.

"You're not going to _touch_ her, slime bucket," he snapped, electric eyes flashing. He opened the thermos; green light sprang out, and before the ghost could move again, he was sucked into the little holder.

"_Told_ you I wasn't going to let you win," Danny said, smoothly clapping the lid back on. His head gave a violent throb and the gym threatened to spin again; he braced himself against the wall.

When he looked up, Sam was still standing the doorway, watching him. He couldn't really tell … but it looked like she'd been crying.

Why?

Well, that didn't matter. What had she been _thinking_, coming in here like that? Jeez.

"What the heck were you _doing_, Sam?" he called out to her, annoyed she would do something so stupid. "You could have gotten hurt!"

What if she had? What would he do? It'd be his fault, of course. His stomach did a funny little twist at the thought.

"Dammit, Sam, don't _ever_ do that again!" he yelled; that thing could have killed her … he felt sick just thinking about it. "You can't just go_ doing_ stuff like that! Why would you do that in the first place?"

His heart pounded fiercely; the thought of anything happening to Sam made his blood run cold. Was that just because she was his best friend?

"Danny Fenton," Sam said at last, "you are a clueless idiot."

She turned, then, and walked away. Danny stared after her, more confused than ever.

He eventually returned to his normal appearance, and left the gym, but did it all in a daze. The back of his head was throbbing painfully, but he wasn't paying attention to that.

She'd called him an idiot. Did that mean she was mad at him? Well, if she was mad, couldn't she just _tell_ him, instead of going around calling him _names_? Was she mad because he'd yelled at her? What did she expect? She'd made him worry, just standing there. Sure, she'd helped, a little … but that didn't change the fact that something could have happened to her.

He felt, somehow, as though he'd let her down, failed her in some vital way. But that was crazy; he hadn't really done anything wrong.

Did yelling count as something wrong?

Maybe he _was_ clueless. Well, he couldn't help that. She didn't have to get _mad_ about it.

_Girls are so confusing. _

His head gave another painful throb, as though to confirm this.

He arrived at his locker without even realizing he'd been walking to it. He stared at it for a moment, not comprehending the fact that it was his locker.

"Yo, Fenton, you have a fight with your _girlfriend_ or something?"

Danny closed his eyes for a moment. He _really_ wasn't in the mood for Dash right now.

"She's not my girlfriend," he said, almost regretfully. Why regret? He wasn't sure, actually.

Dash snorted.

"Sure, Fenton. It's _totally_ obvious she's in love with you."

_Huh? Sam?_

"Whatever, Dash."

"Oh, man, Fenton, you're thicker than I thought if you can't see _that_!" Dash laughed spitefully; Danny scowled up at him.

"What do you want?"

Dash shrugged casually, still grinning.

"Never knew _freaks_ could fall in love," he sneered. "Maybe you better go after her before she starts _crying_ again."

Sam? _Crying_?

"What are you _talking_ about?"

"You mean you don't _know_?" Dash grinned viciously. "After you walked away, Fenton, she was crying after you walked away. _I_ walked right past you two; _I_ saw her crying. Or trying not to. But as soon as you walked away, man, those tears just _poured_ out of her!" he laughed again, as though this whole thing was nothing but an unusually amusing joke.

Why would she be crying?

His hand gave a sudden twitch, and his insides felt as though they had suddenly gone missing.

_I did it. I made her cry. _That's _why she was mad. Oh, jeez, I'm such a _jerk.

"Go away, Dash," he said quietly, narrowing his eyes at his locker door.

"Want a moment alone? What, you gonna start crying, too?" Dash asked, grinning maliciously; but he straightened up and ambled away down the hallway.

Danny's mind was whirling. He wasn't sure if he could process all that Dash had told him.

He felt so guilty. Sam never cried … and _he'd_ made her do it. Her best friend. He was supposed to be there for her … instead he'd made her cry, and then yelled at her.

_Oh, man_ ….

He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking out over the crowded corridor. He had to find her; had to talk to her.

_"…totally obvious she's in love with you!"_

Dash was lying. He had to be. Sam … Sam couldn't _love_ him, especially not after what he'd just done to her. He was the worst person on Earth; he wouldn't be surprised if she hated him.

But what if Dash was telling the truth?

To his surprise, Danny's heart skipped a beat. The fact that Sam might be in love with him … it made him, to put it simply, _happy_. Like a great big balloon was swelling inside his chest.

How _weird._


	3. I Ride Alongside

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A Sorta Fairytale

Chapter Three: I Ride Alongside

July 2004

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Sam sat on the steps outside the school, her chin in her hands. What was she still doing here? School had let out awhile ago; everyone was gone for the weekend.

But here she was, sitting with her elbows on her knees, glaring out at the front lawn. Right about now, Danny would be wondering if she was mad, why she'd called him an idiot.

He was so completely _frustrating_ and thick-headed and shallow and a jerk and he walked all over her and Tucker and he never noticed _anything_ and he didn't care about anything that even _hinted_ at being more than an inch deep …

And she loved him; as angry as she was at him, she still loved him.

It was sort of pathetic, really. He didn't love her; he was too hopeless for Paulina. She had no idea what the hell he saw in her. Not that there was much to see; there was _nothing_ to Paulina. She had her pretty face … and that was it. One day, that prettiness would be gone and then what would she have? Nothing, that's what. A fat load of _nothing_. Maybe then the stupid girl would realize what a stupid thing she'd done by throwing away Danny's affections.

"If she wasn't so popular, would you still like her, Danny?" Sam asked the cold cement ground.

"Uh, Sam? You _know_ that's not Danny, right?"

Sam closed her eyes; the last person she wanted to see right now – aside from Danny himself – was his sister.

"Everything okay?" Jazz set down her books and sat down beside Sam.

"Everything's great," Sam said dully.

"You couldn't sound more convincing." Jazz smiled a little, touching Sam's arm.

"Would you give up on the saving the world act?" Sam snapped, her eyes flying open, pulling away. Jazz raised an eyebrow.

"You know who you sound like, don't you?"

Sam groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"What did he do this time?"

"Aside from being a real jerk, nothing." Sam paused, raised her head from her hands, and added: "Okay, so he yelled at me for _saving_ him from that ugly gho … gorilla-of-a-math-teacher-we've-got." Sam glanced quickly at the other girl, hoping she hadn't noticed her slip-up. Jazz nodded, appearing to have missed it.

"Danny … Danny's a good kid. You're his best friend; you should know that better than anyone. He doesn't mean to make you mad, and I _know_ he'd never try to make you cry."

"Does everyone know about that?" Sam sighed, turning to look at Jazz.

"Well … yeah, pretty much."

"_Great_."

Jazz got to her feet after a moment of silence.

"Look, Sam. Danny never means to be hurt anyone. Sure, he's really annoying a lot of the time, but he's also a sweet heart … he just doesn't want anyone to find that out. Someday, Paulina's _really_ going to regret rejecting him." She touched Sam's shoulder, tentatively. "Danny loves you, Sam, even if he doesn't know it right now."

At Sam's frown, Jazz laughed.

"You two are so obvious, it's disgusting."

" … Everyone knows about that too, right?"

"Yeah, that too."

Sam shook her head.

"Go home and don't stress over it anymore," Jazz advised. "He'll come around eventually."

Jazz gathered up her things and began down the steps. Sam watched her a moment.

"Hey, um, Jazz?" Sam called, before the older girl could walk away. She'd never liked Jazz all that much … but she was okay. Aside from her perfect do-gooder complex.

Jazz turned around, curious.

"Thanks."

Jazz smiled.

"Hey, anytime."

Sam didn't know how long ago Tucker had left; but she was glad for the time she had by herself. She walked home alone; thinking about all Jazz had told her. Her head bent, the late afternoon sun beating down upon Amity Parks, cars whizzing their way home, children giggling as they played. She turned onto her street and froze when she saw Danny sitting on the steps in front of her house. How long had he been there?

He looked up, brilliant blue eyes widening when he spied her. He grinned nervously.

"Hey, Sam," he said, standing up and running a hand through his already messy hair.

Looking at him now, only a few feet in front of her, smiling sheepishly at her, she found she couldn't stay mad at him.

"Hi, Danny," she said, holding tightly to the strap of her backpack. "What … what are you doing here?"

He bit his lip, frowning a little.

"Um … Sam, I'm _really_ sorry I was such a jerk and made you cry; I _swear_ I didn't mean to," he said quickly, rubbing his arm. "I was just worried about you. I … I don't want to see you hurt. I couldn't stand it if something happened to you."

She tried to find the willpower to summon at least a bit of anger, tried to think of some nasty retort … but she smiled instead. The way he was looking at her, bright eyes wide, pleading her forgiveness … Sam rolled her eyes.

"I was trying to help you," she said.

"Yeah … thanks for that." He grinned, looking thoroughly relieved, and slightly embarrassed.

"What're friends for?" She shrugged, swallowing hard. She moved past him, toward her door, trying to hard to keep her heart from sinking. Jazz had told her not to stress over it … he'd get it eventually … but disappointment still gathered within her.

She loved him more than anything. She wished he could see that. She wished he could see his own feelings.

She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Danny wasn't going to figure out anything for a long while … or until Jazz got fed up with the whole thing and decided to tell him. Until then, there was nothing she could do but wait. Knowing that he loved her made it both worse at better; but at least she could be patient. Right now, it was nice to have her best friend back. Even if he was an oblivious moron.

"Uh … Sam?"

She stopped, one foot inside the house, and looked back at him. A lock of black hair had fallen into his clear eyes; he shifted from one foot to the other, rubbing his arm again nervously.

"You, um, wanna go catch a movie?" he asked, blue eyes wide and anxious.

She smiled and nodded, gazing down at him from the doorway.

Maybe he'd put the pieces together sooner than anyone anticipated.


End file.
